28/05/2025

WEDNESDAY | MAY 28, 2025

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Population growth threat to planet T HE flamboyant emcee went on stage to announce the highlight of the evening’s celebration – a Heroic Families Award contest between two groups. Year Population CO2 level Notes > 1950 2.5 billion 310 ppm

> 2000 > 2020 > 2024

6.0 billion 7.79 billion 8.1 billion

369 ppm 414 ppm 426 ppm

This was a 19% C02 rise over a 140% population surge. This was a 33.5% C02 rise over a 42.8% population surge. This was a 3% C02 rise over a 4% population surge.

The first group to be introduced consisted of three couples, each with seven children, all of whom joined them on stage. Then came the competing group: seven couples without children. The winner would be determined by the audience through loud acclaim. Which group do you think received the loudest, most wholehearted cheer? Although the event is fictional, if it were ever held, there is little doubt that a Malaysian audience would overwhelmingly vote for the three families with seven children each. However, that would be a disastrously wrong choice. The seven childless couples deserve to win as their heroic sacrifice ensured that collectively the 10 couples observed Mother Nature’s “rule of 2”, which means that two children per couple are enough to replace the parents. With 21 children replacing 20 adults, the population remains roughly constant. What about the extra child? Its role is to offset child mortality and individuals who do not reproduce. This is why the ideal replacement level fertility rate is 2.1 – meaning 21 children for every 10 couples. In the previous article, we noted that Malaysia favours continued population growth, with political and communal leaders wanting to stop the downward trend in births. For such misguided leadership, we lose another point, bringing our climate survival score down to -7 points. Human overpopulation is the primary driver of the global ecological crisis that manifests as climate change, biodiversity loss and toxic pollution. Their cause-and-effect relationship is dramatically evident if you plot a transparent chart showing the atmospheric carbon dioxide (C02) levels from 1950 to 2020 and lay this chart over a global population growth chart from 1950 to 2020. The year 1950 is fixed by climate experts as the start date of the Anthropocene, the epoch of significant planetary change as a result of human activities. It replaces the Holocene epoch which began 12,000 years ago with the invention of agriculture. Before the advent of agriculture in 10,000 BCE, less than one million people roamed the Earth.

five or more children to help on the farm. Pakistan, with its population of 247 million, has a population density of 280 people per sq km, compared with Malaysia’s density of 103 people per sq km. With climate change sparking unprecedented floods ruining family livelihoods that depend on farming, parents are selling their underaged daughters for marriage to older and wealthier men. One continent is dragging the climate further down into the flood-and-heat swamp – Africa. This is where Malaysia has to step in and help steer Africa’s course because it has the world’s fastest growing population. Fuelled by religious norms, African women have more children than those on other continents. Egypt and Algeria’s youth unemployment rates are at a sky high 24% because of their bulging populations of the 15 to 24 age group caused by fertility rates of 3.5 children per woman on average. Only this year has the Egyptian rate come down to 2.9 and the Algerian rate to 2.6 – still well above the 2.1 replacement rate. Nigeria is a disaster. It has 36 states, with 17 in the south and 19 in the north. The southern states have fertility rates of more than three, and 13 states have rates higher than 3.5. But it is the north that pulls the climate into a spin. Six of the 19 northern states have a fertility rate over six. The northern women have denounced the government’s recommendation that they should have no more than four children despite everyone having a tough time with families struggling to hang on. Northern girls marry before they turn 15. Last year, researchers at Ohio State University in the US discovered that children with no siblings enjoy the best mental health as all parental resources and loving care are devoted to it. However, as family size grows, each new sibling has poorer mental Students’ Association, holds special significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of our graduating class. In celebration, the organisers have honoured the class of 1975 with the privilege of cutting the anniversary cake on stage. They have also allocated two pages in the souvenir magazine for us to submit old photographs for publication. This is a wonderful opportunity for alumni like myself and others from my batch to reconnect with old friends, reminisce about our school days and celebrate the

Agriculture sparked a steady rise in population as it allowed for larger families because food could now be grown in one’s backyard. Farmers produced more children to increase the number of farm workers to cultivate surplus food for

health. This explains why the two states with the highest fertility rates in Malaysia also recorded the highest drug addiction rates per 100,000 people. The community with the highest overall birth rate also registered the highest number of drug addicts per 100,000 people while the community with the lowest overall birth rate registered the lowest number. Another research study by the University of Rhode Island in the US and the University of Padua in Italy found that having more children affected the physical and mental health of parents. In the majority of countries analysed, more children are associated with poorer health outcomes, especially for chronic conditions and depression. This may explain why Kelantan – one of two states in Malaysia with the highest fertility rates – is raising concern over the alarming rise in household underage rape cases. Children in large families are more likely to develop criminal tendencies, especially if these are also poor families. Crime and instability are known to be more debilitating in over populated north Nigeria than in the less populated south. “Secular” schools in the north are often burned down. There are far more internal conflicts in the north as settled farmers and nomadic herders fight over scarce water and land resources. High birth rates also mean high rates of natal deaths and baby abandonment as has happened in Malaysia. It is also happening in America despite its strong health facilities infrastructure. Our brain neurons want us to prioritise the quality of child upbringing because there is no longer a need for population growth. Either we act or Nature acts. JoachimNg champions interfaith harmony. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com enduring legacy of ACS. I look forward to meeting up with my former schoolmates, both seniors and juniors, as well as my former teachers. As we celebrate this 50-year milestone, I hope we not only honour the school but also the spirit of togetherness and mutual respect it fostered – values that feel more important now than ever. Fide Et Labore Michael Ng Class of 1975

pollution, increasing heat and worse storms. If the population soars to nine billion by 2040, C02 level will hit 472ppm. Can Malaysians endure such a level? All Malaysians need to speak with one voice and prod the government

sale. Populations grew slowly and it took 5,000 years to reach five million in 5,000 BCE. However, by the time of Jesus’ birth around 1 CE, it had reached 200 million. The growth rate had gone from one million per 1,000 years to 40 million per 1,000 years, reflecting the phenomenal expansion of agriculture world wide. By the time of the industrial revolution that began around 1750, the population had reached 770 million. In 1800, the count was one billion, with 90% now living in rural areas and only 10% still roaming the wild lands as hunter gatherers. By 1900, the population had reached 1.5 billion. For 10,000 years up until the time of Jesus, C02 levels were at 260-280 parts per million. In 1800, C02 level

to play a leading global role in world population control as Malaysia has been elected to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development for 2026-2030. For starters, Malaysia should recommend that Japan and China be given “hero” awards for straight years of declining birth rates. The two nations have learned to cope by raising the retirement age and switching to automation. On the other hand, South Korea should be placed on Santa Claus’ “naughty” list for bestowing the Civil Merit Award on two women who each gave birth to 13 children. America should be placed on a high tariff list because its Make America Great Again campaign has taken an even worse turn with the White House now stridently pro-birth and considering offering a US$5,000 (RM21, 180) bonus

“Human overpopulation is the primary driver of the global ecological crisis that manifests as climate change, biodiversity loss and toxic pollution.

was at a steady 28ppm but in 1820, it registered 281 and by 1900 it had reached 289. In 1950, it registered 310.

for every baby born. India’s poorest state, Bihar, is already overpopulated at 127 million people, resulting in high youth unemployment. Yet, its birth rate is 3.0, well above the replacement-level fertility rate of 2.1. Mothers want

The C02 jump rate has closed in and is now running parallel with the population growth rate. If the global population hits 8.4 billion in 2027, the C02 level will be at 440 to 445ppm, bringing more toxic

Celebrating ACS class of 75

recess, but more importantly, it was the camaraderie that shaped who we became. We played together, studied side by side and supported one another without a second thought to race or religion. It was not perfect but there was something genuinely unifying about those years. The friendships we formed remain some of the most sincere and enduring I have ever known. This year’s reunion dinner, organised by the school’s Old

whom we quietly admired – though always from a distance, wrapped in the awkwardness and innocence of youth. What I truly appreciated during my time at ACS was the diversity of my classmates – a vibrant mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian boys and girls, some of whom I’m still in touch with today. In a world often marked by division, I look back fondly on a time when students of all races and backgrounds got along effortlessly. It felt natural, unforced and deeply genuine. Back then, we ate together during

LETTERS letters@thesundaily.com

I AM writing to share some fond memories of my time at Anglo Chinese School (ACS) on Jalan Lintang, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, and to highlight the upcoming Old Students’ Association reunion dinner, scheduled for the first Saturday of August 2025. My years at ACS were filled with many happy memories. Being a co-ed school, there were of course girls